Dissecting the ‘Myth’ of the isolated mind: The intersubjectivity problem in psychotherapy.
The notion of authenticity is a mode of being that is of central importance to psychotherapy because it is the ground for truly inter-subjective experience. Authenticity may be defined as the seizing of that which is most one’s own, one’s own unique possibilities; this is what Heidegger termed Jemeinigkeit (Heidegger, 1962). This act of seizing facilitates established aims for psychotherapeutic practice, including self-understanding and the potential for change. As such, authenticity forms the grounding for the therapeutic act. In contrast, inter-subjectivity refers to what is common or shared between people.
The question of inter-subjectivity is of great concern when thinking about the nature of ‘being with others, because it raises difficult questions about our assumed ability to relate and understand another. Most notably the question that arises is, how is the experience of a successful social intercourse with another self possible’ (Schutz). As R.D. Laing (1967) contended: ‘I cannot experience your experience and you cannot experience my experience. We are both invisible men; Social phenomenology is the science of my own and others experience’ (Laing, 1967, p. 16). This issue within social phenomenology is particularly relevant within the context of psychotherapy because it suggests that full-disclosure is impossible. In this presentation, we will address this inter-subjectivity problem as it relates to psychotherapy and propose strategies that psychotherapists may use to facilitate authentic inter-subjective experience with clients.
